More on the Patriots Day Parade

BARBARA DIAMOND

Despite dire predictions and inclement weather the night before, no

rain fell on the 2005 Patriots Day Parade, March 5. The parade has

only been rained out once -- in 1985 -- and minutes after the parade

would have started, the sun shone through.

In 2000, the parade went on -- rain or no rain.

As promised: more tidbits from the parade.

South Laguna resident Eric Jessen, who was a guest in the Diamond

Crestview Neighborhood Assn. and the Laguna Beach County Water

District entries of the parade, will retire this year as chief of

Orange County Harbors Beaches and Parks Department. His legacy will

be a DVD he is preparing with Harry Huggins of the history of county

parks, starting with the acquisition of Irvine Park in 1897.

They will present the DVD at the May 2 Laguna Canyon Conservancy

dinner meeting.

Board of Education member El Hathaway also did double duty. He

chauffeured the male Junior Citizen of the Year -- who just happened

to be his son, Tyler, in the family’s 1966 Mustang, and then hopped

onto the board’s entry.

Eleanor Henry, who chaired the winning Sawdust Festival entry,

marched with the Peace Vigil Group.

“I take no credit for the Sawdust entry,” Henry said. “I gave the

artists complete control. All I did was open the door, make a salad

and serve some pizza.”

The “Sun, Surf and Sawdust Festival” entry was based on the theme

for the 2005 festival. Artists Olivia Batchelder, Sue Winner, Hodel

Perlman, Ryan Gourley and Amanda Burke created the display.

Unfortunately, Burke was ill on parade day and missed the fun.

The American Field Services, which organizes the exchange of

students from foreign countries to the U.S and vice versa, entered a

car so rare, that judges may not have known what a prize it is.

Only 4,000 Lafers were made in Brazil in the late 1970s and early

1980s, and only 1,000 of them were ever exported. The car was made by

the Lafer Furniture Co. It is in the classic style of a Morgan Plus

Four, except it has running boards.

Gary Phillips and Kim Allen bought their British racing green

convertible from a dealer in Newport Beach in 1981.

“It was our wedding present to one another,” Allen said.

The license plate is KimGary.

Guiness, a full-blooded, perfectly-mannered German shepherd,

walked with Helen Evers in the RUFF entry. He is one of the Rescued

Unwanted Furry Friends, for which the organization was founded.

Alex Wentzel was the flag bearer for the group.

The entry of the Assistance League of Laguna Beach was decorated

by the Assisteens, the teenage volunteer auxiliary of the chapter.

Decorators included Assisteens Chair Brianna Neal, Vice Chairs

Corinne and Torrey Anderson Schoepe, Philanthropy Chair Gina Yocum,

Adria Kloke, Christina Mestre, Mahri Barnes, Breanna Duplisea,

Kendall Hellman, Ali Hawthorne, Kristin Herberg, Lou Farless and

Megan O’Connell.

Assisteens is a service group, but the girls make it fun.

“Last night, they had a sleepover at the Chapter House, stuffing

sox with hygiene items to be donated to the Laguna Beach Resource

Center and the Community Clinic,” adult advisor Martie McCluskey

said.

The night before the parade Al Oligino went out to battle wind and

rain that he thought might threaten the entry of the Exchange Club of

Laguna Beach -- a painted, five-foot tall eagle nested in the back of

his truck.

“He was going to put a tarp on it, but he decided it might take

off in the wind,” said Zolita Scott, who marched in the entry.

City Clerk Martha Anderson has marched in the Neighborhood Watch

entry in past years, but 2005 was her first VIP ride.

Firefighter Carl Klass, who rode in one of the Fire Department’s

vehicles, remembers marching in the Little League entry in the first

parade. Laguna Club for Kids Executive Director Shelley Jones, who

walked in the club entry this year, started marching as a Brownie and

then a Girl Scout.

One-year-old Melani Falkowski was the youngest costumed

participant in the Laguna Beach Library entry “Be a Super Hero, Read

a Book.” She was a princess. Jillian Goson, 3, was a kitty.

Children’s Librarian Rebecca Porter led the group, as Spider (Wo)

Man.

Bree “Legs” Burgess Rosen gave up hiking down the hill in heels

this year, reprising the role of the Calamari from “Lagunatics.”

Cody LaTendresse, son of Deputy City Clerk Mindy and Fire

Battalion Chief Jeff LaTendresse, marched with Sparky the Fire Dog.

Fire department assistant Carrie Joyce rode on the 1931 Segrave

driven by retired Captain Eugene D’Isabella.

The 2005 parade had 96 participating groups and about 100

volunteers to make sure it went off on schedule.

Definitely a candidate for Volunteer of the Year: veteran parade

treasurer and entry chair, Sandi Werthe, who added Port-A-Potty Chair

to her tasks this year.

“In the past, Waste Management donated them, but they sold that

division last year and we were going to have to pay for them,” Werthe

said. “But the Laguna Beach Firefighters Assn. paid for them, thank

goodness.”

Werthe began volunteering with the parade 30 years ago, then took

a break until she and husband, Hal, also a parade volunteer, were

honored as Citizens of the Year in 1993.

Charles J. Quilter II has the record for chairing the parade

committee: 1998-2000 and 2002-04. He was the Patriot of the Year in

1993 after the returned from duty in Desert Storm.

Nina Rietsch chaired the 2005 parade. She is the daughter of the

1992 Grand Marshal, Manfred A. Rietsch.

Other Grand Marshals: actor and musician Scatman Crothers, 1978;

Disneyland Ambassadors Mickey Mouse, 1979 and 1991; Olympic Gold

Medalist Dusty Dvork, 1986; astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 1987, an Emerald Bay resident at the time; Roy Marcum, 1990, the parade’s first

chairman; singer-actress Barbara McNair, 1993; Imax filmmaker Greg

McGillevray, 1996; Police Chief Neil Purcell Jr., 1997; and his

successor James Spriene, 2005.

Federal Judge David O. Carter was honored as Patriot of the Year

in 1991 and Grand Marshal in 1999. Skipper Carillo was a Citizen of

the Year in 1991 and Grand Marshal in 2000.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, 92652; hand-deliver to Suite 222 in the

Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949)

494-8979.